news-record.com

75 years ago
From Greensboro Daily News, July 18-24, 1935:
Approaches to the Fishing Creek Bridge are now being made by state highway forces.

On the south side, the road joins Old River Road, and on the north side, it joins the hard-surface road from Spray to Draper.

The Fishing Creek Bridge was promoted by the late B. Frank Mebane as a shorter route from Draper to Leaksville and to Reidsville.

The bridge was built about 11 years ago. It caused much discussion by many who thought it was unnecessary because, at the time, it was seldom used. But under the new deal, it should be more widely used.

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The Reidsville Post Office reports money orders for the first six months of 1935 totaled 11,512, up from 10,471 a year earlier. Meanwhile, the incoming mails are running 25 to 30 percent above the same period a year ago.

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S.F. Terry, Reidsville’s first postmaster, died at his home on Maple Avenue after a lengthy illness caused by heart troubles. He was 86.

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The local company of the 105th Medical Detachment of the North Carolina National Guard, based in Madison, left for two weeks at Camp Jackson, S.C.

The 60-member company is commanded by Capt. Kenan Casteen of Leaksville.

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Work on widening Boone Road, between Leaksville and Spray, began this week with George W. Martin of Salisbury as general contractor. A steam shovel began ripping up asphalt, which is to be replaced with concrete. The asphalt is quite rough.

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At National Theatre: Bette Davis in “Front Page Woman.”

50 years ago
From Greensboro Daily News, July 18-24, 1960:
The Fieldcrest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been incorporated, Fieldcrest Mills President Harold W. Whitcomb announced.

The foundation, he said, will be dedicated to the promotion of religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational causes.

In announcing the foundation, Whitcomb said all future contributions by Fieldcrest Mills to charitable causes will be made through the foundation and not the mills.

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Members of Old Belt tobacco groups and the Northern Piedmont Development Association, meeting at the Rockingham County Agricultural Center in Wentworth, agreed on a simplified draft of two petitions calling for protection of farm leaf allotments.

The new petition reads: “We, the undersigned, request responsible tobacco leadership to make every effort to have the present tobacco allotments to remain in the county and be utilized.”

The original draft of the Piedmont group’s petition, which has not been circulated yet, called for legal provision for release by any grower of his allotment to any other grower for planting on any land of the latter’s choice.

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The Orange Presbytery, meeting in Wentworth, approved a number of pastoral changes and heard a talk by Mrs. Britt M. Armfield of Greensboro on projects in which the Women of Orange Presbytery have taken an interest.

She is past president of the Women of Orange Presbytery. Host churches for the meeting were Wentworth and Smyrna Presbyterian churches.

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J.O. Sugg, 51, owner of Sugg Funeral Home in Leaksville, died of a heart attack, suffered while he was en route to Morehead City for a fishing trip.

He was a member of a number of Leaksville organizations, including First Baptist Church, Masonic Lodge, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Red Men, Moose Lodge and the Leaksville Volunteer Fire Department.

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Site of the North Central District slow-pitch softball tournaments will be Reidsville and Draper, with entries in both tournaments to be completed by Aug. 1.

One North Central district is composed of Reidsville, Greensboro, High Point, Thomasville, Burlington, Roxboro and Yanceyville while the other North Central District is composed of Winston-Salem, Madison, Mayodan and Stoneville.

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At Center Theater: Walt Disney’s “Pollyanna.”

25 years ago
From Greensboro News & Record, July 18-24, 1985:
The N.C. General Assembly agreed to provide $500,000 to Chinqua-Penn Plantation for renovations to the mansion, which has deteriorated after years of underfunded maintenance.

Rep. Robert McAllister, D-Ruffin, sponsored the legislation. He said the house will be kept open.

Doug Merritt, plantation director, said everyone is pleased with the allocation. “We’re ready to get the ball rolling,” he said.

But Chinqua-Penn supporters said the $500,000 is just a start, noting that a rough estimate by UNCG, which operates the mansion, puts the price tag for complete repairs to the house at $2 million.

The $500,000 will be used to fix the house’s leaky roof, which now causes water damage throughout the mansion. “That’s the first thing that’s got to be done,” said Merritt.

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This year, more computers and computer programs will be bought for nearly all grade levels of school, officials said.

The goal is to have computers help students not only with math and science but also with art and foreign languages.

Eden city schools will get about 100 Apple, Commodore and Radio Shack computers.

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The Rev. Alex Todd’s troubles with Reidsville city hall came to an end this week when the City Council voted to allow him to hold a tent revival at a Sprinkle Street lot.

Todd, pastor of Ephesus Seventh Adventist Church, felt he had been getting the runaround from a city official and had put off the opening of the revival for a week. But this week, after hearing from Todd, the City Council gave him the approval he needed.

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Rockingham County officials want the county included in the Greensboro-Winston-
Salem-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area, which collects a variety of data from areas within the region.

Mac Williams, the county’s economic development director, said inclusion is being sought for Rockingham for two reasons: The county would be officially designated as part of the Triad, and adding Rockingham would boost the MSA’S rank from 65th in the nation to a top-50 position.

The latter, he noted, are considered prime areas of growth and to be included would get Rockingham looked at more closely by industries seeking to expand.

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Full-time employees of Rockingham Community College will get a 9.79 percent pay raise this year but wages of part-time workers will remain the same, RCC President Jerry Owens reported after a meeting of the college’s board of trustees, who unanimously endorsed boosting full-time salaries by nearly 10 percent.

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At Terrace Theater: Clint Eastwood in “Pale Rider.”

10 years ago
From Greensboro News & Record, July 18-24, 2000:
The N.C. Department of Transportation wants to replace a two-lane bridge over Smith River in Spray and tear down the Spray traffic circle at one end of the bridge.

But the Eden Historic Preservation Commission is not sure eliminating the traffic circle is a good thing.

The commission agrees that a new bridge is needed but feels “the traffic circle should remain because it’s part of a historic district,” said Marianne Aiken, president of the commission.

The roundabout has been part of the community for 60 years, between the Barnett Canal and Church Street.

State officials say the high traffic volume makes it unsafe, with 16,500 vehicles passing through the circle daily.

Aiken and other commission members have scheduled meetings with DOT to discuss alternate plans that would keep the traffic circle.

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The N.C. Court of Appeals has dismissed a wrongful firing lawsuit against former Sheriff C.D. (Bobby) Vernon by two former deputies.

The court agreed that suits by Dispatcher Wayne Harder and patrol officer Robert Payne were filed too late to meet statute of limitations deadlines.

The deputies contended they had been fired for not being openly supportive of Vernon in the 1994 Democratic primary.

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The Eden City Council decided to keep the city’s 911 emergency call system separate from the Reidsville and Rockingham systems after being told merging with those systems could have an adverse effect on response time.

Fred Griffin and Rex Holloway, consultants hired by the city to study merger proposals, also noted that merger would not reduce the cost of the system.

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Mount Carmel United Methodist Church in the Oregon Hill section celebrated its 225th anniversary this week.

The church was founded by John Smith, who fell ill during a long trail ride from Pennsylvania and recalled the healing waters of a spring he had passed earlier.

He turned back from Guilford County to go to Bold Spring — now the Oregon Hill section — where he survived and started a family and the church.